During the first week of February, the Mississippi Economic Development Council held its annual winter conference in Jackson. This year was a little different than years past. This year we had 10 of the top 30 consultants in the United States in attendance to speak to us about what it takes to be successful in today’s economic development world.

In addition, sponsorships were available in very limited quantities that allowed those who were sponsors to have a great deal of one-on- one time with the consultants. The Panola Partnership’s board of directors thought is would be a great investment for us to participate as a sponsor and so we did.

The first night of the conference we had the opportunity to attend a private reception with all of the consultants, to introduce ourselves and to share with them what we had to offer within our respective communities. The reception was followed by a private dinner with half of the consultants going with one group and the other half with another group. The second night of the conference the consultants switched groups for another private dinner. This gave each of us as sponsors a chance to meet privately with all consultants in attendance and to tell them about our communities and what we are doing to prepare ourselves to recruit new industries.

 Economic development is a very complex endeavor that not only involves preparation of our industrial sites and making sure they are ready for immediate construction. It’s about getting the word out to the ones that make the decisions as to where a new industry locates. And just as important, if not more important, is establishing good relationships with key consultants throughout the country so that when a project comes their way, Panola County will be on their minds and considered.

Our Board, in its wisdom as I said earlier, thought this would be a good investment and that we could possibly see a potential return on this investment within a very reasonable time. Shortly after the conference we received a request from one of the consultants we met to submit a proposal for an upcoming project. If we had not had the time to share what is happening in Panola County with this consultant, we most likely would not have this opportunity.

This is not to say we are going to land the project. The project is looking at multiple locations, but we know we are going to be very competitive with our response and we are in the game.
There are over 4,000 organizations much like ours in the United States that are competing for projects and there are less than 400 active projects at any given time. But if we keep going the extra mile, if we do all that is possible to bring favor to Panola County, if we outwork our competition and if we let the world know what we have to offer, we will be successful and we will get our share of the projects that bring new investment and new jobs to our community.  
Forever forward!